1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to light sockets and more particularly pertains to a push-in light socket adapter which may be utilized for facilitating a rapid removal and replacement of a light bulb.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of light sockets is known in the prior art. More specifically, light sockets heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of retaining a light bulb and supplying electrical power thereto are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
For example, a push-in type of light socket is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,504,329 which utilizes a lamp socket for holding a light bulb with a conductive base in which the socket is made of plastic material and formed with unitary deformable bulb holding means on the inner wall of the socket. Electrical contact means are also provided in the socket to make electrical contact with the conductive base.
An elastic socket for light bulbs and fuses is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,667 which employs a socket for light bulbs and fuses that has a metallic cylinder bulb or fuse receptacle having a longitudinal opening extending from its opening end across the opposed edges of which the opposed free ends of a coil spring are attached to frictionally engage a bulb or fuse entered into the receptacle cylinder with the coil spring.
Another patent of interest is U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,866 which discloses a light bulb socket for use with light bulbs of conventional design and threaded base that has a frame and a cup adapted to accept the light bulb base mounted for longitudinal motion within the frame between a first extended position and a second retracted position. An engagement finger engages the bulb thread when the cup is in the retracted position to retain the bulb in the cup, and releases the bulb when the cup returns to the extended position.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a light socket adapter for use with a conventional household light bulb socket for facilitating a rapid removal and replacement of a light bulb. Furthermore, the prior art does not teach a light socket adapter which includes an indicator light operable to indicate both a supply of electrical power to the device and a presence of a light bulb within the adapter. In these respects, the push-in light socket adapter according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of facilitating a rapid removal and replacement of a light bulb and indicating a supply of electrical power to the light bulb.